From North Shore Community: North Shore Community Health’s Allison Kilcoyne, NP has been awarded the prestigious 2019 AANP State Award for Excellence. North Shore Community Health’s Director of School-Based Health, Allison Kilcoyne, NP has been awarded the prestigious 2019 AANP State Award for Excellence. The NP State Award for Excellence is granted annually to an individual NP in each state who has demonstrated excellence in clinical practice. Allison Kilcoyne will be honored during the 2019 AANP National Conference in Indianapolis in June. North Shore Community Health thanks Allison Kilcoyne for the level of dedication she demonstrates to community health and excellent care of her patients. Allison, as Director of School-Based Health, oversees and directs all NSCH school programs. Allison and our school-based teams are making a difference in young lives every day.

“Allison Kilcoyne is one of North Shore Community Health’s dedicated, compassionate and committed providers. Allison beneficially impacts the daily lives of all in her practice, she is a true asset to North Shore Community Health and we applaud her great accomplishment ,” said Maggie Brennan, President and CEO of North Shore Community Health. North Shore Community Health is a level 3 PCMH, is a Federally Qualified Community Health Center which has three family practice sites that include Salem Family Health Center, Peabody Family Health Center, and Gloucester Family Health Center. These sites have medical, dental and behavioral health services and serve individuals and families of all ages. NSCH has School-Based Health Centers at: Salem High School Teen Health Center, Peabody Veterans War Memorial High School Teen Health Center and behavioral health centers at Collins Middle School, Bates Elementary School, Bentley Academy Charter School, Horace Mann Laboratory School, and Peabody Learning Academy. No one seeking care at any of our sites will ever be denied access to services due to inability to pay. We offer a discounted/sliding fee scale based on family size and income. You may apply for a discount at the front desk when you arrive at any of our sites. We also offer translation services, outreach and enrollment services and health education. We are governed by a Board of Directors where more than 50% of the Governing Board are also patients. North Shore Community Health is a member of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and the National Association of Community Health Centers. If you would like more information about this, please contact Margaret Brennan, MPH email at margaret.brennan@nschi.org or Christina Aubin at christina.aubin@nschi.org

Nurse practitioner Allison Kilcoyne, director of school-based health for North Shore Community Health, has been awarded the state Award of Excellence by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, given for excellence in clinical practice. She will be honored during the AANP national conference in Indianapolis in June.

Join our very own Dr. Archer for a screening of “Addiction” on March 5th

“Addiction,” a screening March 5, 6 – 8:30 p.m. Mosesian Center, 321 Arsenal St. Watertown. Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s Multi-Service Center and PBS’ science series, NOVA, are holding a screening of the documentary, “Addiction.” The film takes a hard look at the science of addiction, and features firsthand accounts from individuals and families struggling with opioid addiction. A panel of local experts will be on hand to answer audience questions following the film, including Dr. Laura Kehoe, medical director, MGH Substance Use Disorder Bridge Clinic; Dr. Dara Arons, family physician, Charles River Community Health; Dr. Damian Archer, chief medical officer, North Shore Community Health Center, and Peter Airasian, co-founder, Watertown Overcoming Addiction. Free. Eventbrite RSVP: bit.ly/2UTpujx or contact Stephanie_Sunderland@waysideyouth.org.

With five sites across Peabody, Salem, and Gloucester, North Shore Community Health (NSCH) is ramping up its efforts to become a comprehensive healthcare facility, and that includes building its trans health program.

“As part of our mission to provide comprehensive primary health care to all of our patients, we decided to begin the important work of enhancing our transgender health services by giving dedicated training through the Fenway Institute to a team of primary care providers across all of our sites in Salem, Peabody and Gloucester as well as at the two high schools, Peabody Veteran Memorial High School and Salem High School, to competently address the specific needs of our current and future transgender patients,” said Damian Archer, chief medical officer at NSCH.

According to Archer, NSCH has completed two years of clinical training through Trans ECHO to prepare clinicians to serve trans patients and a curricula is being developed to train clinical and administrative staff to provide stigma-free and inclusive care to patients. NSCH even reached out to the LGBTQ community for mentorship and advice on how to best roll out the program and incorporate the training into its work.

Most notably, Archer said, “North Shore Community Health stands-out in the medical community of the North Shore as a federally qualified community health center because we are part of a movement to deliver social justice through the provision of equitable, high-quality health care.”

Perhaps NSCH’s work will signal healthcare best practices for the future, both locally and nationally.

PEABODY — The class of 2014 at Peabody High has donated $1,000 to the school’s Student Health Center, to support mental health services.

Matthew Mogavero, co-resident of the class, said in an email that the class did not make a gift at graduation, but recently made the decision to make one to the health center, which is open to students at the high school when school is in session.

The center, operated by North Shore Community Health, provides medical services such as immunizations, urgent care visits, physicals and sports physicals, as well as mental health services, including counseling, individual therapy, group therapy, help with stopping drug or alcohol use, and stress management.

“The class officers polled some members of our class, and the overwhelming consensus was that our peers wanted these funds to go toward mental health services at the high school,” Mogavero said . He said many recent graduates are alarmed about the rising rates of suicide and mental illness among young people in the United States.

“This gift has prompted conversations between us graduates of how we felt we had so little support in high school when it came to mental health and self-care,” he said. “The stigma of mental illness and lack of supportive resources has led to many youth suffering in silence. We must stop that stigma and inaction.”

The Student Health Center opened to treat students at Peabody High in the spring of 2015, after Mogavero’s class had graduated.

Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673, by email at eforman@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @TannerSalemNews.

North Shore Community Health receives federal grant.

Salem, MA, September 26, 2018– North Shore Community Health received $371,000 in federal funding to expand its existing substance abuse and behavioral health treatment services. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) HRSA awarded $352 million to increase access to substance use disorder and mental health services through the Expanding Access to Quality Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Services (SUD-MH) to 1,232 community health centers across the nation.

The awards support HHS’s Five-Point Opioid Strategy, which launched last year to empower local communities on the frontlines of the national epidemic. “HRSA is committed to fighting this crisis by supporting our grantees with resources, technical assistance, and training to integrate behavioral health care services into practice settings and communities,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas MS, Ph.D. “These funds enable HRSA grantees to continue to implement or expand substance use disorder and mental health services across the Nation.”

“Given that we are a medium size community health center; this is a very significant award. It affirms our commitment to participate in the efforts to combat the opioid abuse epidemic that is raging in the communities we serve,” said Margaret Brennan, CEO of North Shore Community Health. “We are currently seeing over 300 people who are struggling with substance abuse and the care we provide is very comprehensive. This funding will allow us to provide more care to those we are seeing now, expand to see new patients, and see more people who are struggling with behavioral health issues. With continuing support from the Federal Government and a new campaign we have launched to attract private giving, we are very proud of the success we have had over the last several years,” added Brennan.

North Shore Community Health is an NCQA certified Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home with three family practice sites that include Salem, Peabody, and Gloucester Family Health Centers. These sites have medical, dental, substance abuse treatment, and behavioral health services and care for individuals and families of all ages. NSCH also has two School-Based Health Centers (Salem High School Teen Health Center and Peabody Veterans War Memorial High School Teen Health Center) and provides behavioral health care on site at Collins Middle School, Nathaniel Bowditch, Bates and Bentley Schools in Salem. No one seeking care at any of our sites will be denied access to services due to inability to pay as the health center uses a discounted/sliding fee scale based on family size and income. NSCH also provides translation services, outreach and enrollment services and health education. The health center is governed by a Board of Directors where more than 50% of the Board are also patients. North Shore Community Health is a member of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Community health centers appeal for state assistance

Dr. Damian Archer, the chief medical officer of North Shore Community Health, called it “absolutely necessary” to think about how to stabilize health care centers.

“We have demonstrated what our value is to the commonwealth, and I think we just need that support in order to carry that baton a little bit further down the track of helping health care to the next level,” he said.

Archer said workforce retention is among the greatest challenges facing community health centers, which can struggle to pay salaries that are competitive with other institutions.

“We can’t keep up pace with what their needs are,” he said of clinicians and other workers. “They come with these sort of golden hearts and want to do a lot of passionate, driven, compassionate work, but they have loans and they have other needs that need to be met, which we can’t really fight with.”